Inca wall pulled down to build hotel

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) - A Frenchman has torn down part of an ancient Inca wall to build a hotel in the Peruvian city of Cusco, capital of the Inca
empire, that he ironically wanted to call "The Archeologist".

The El Comercio newspaper on Sunday said Joel Raymund was planning to slap up a concrete wall in place of the large, finely cut bricks that had been
there since before the 16th century Spanish conquest.

Peruvian authorities have halted construction of the hotel. El Comercio said Raymund apologised, but it was not immediately clear what sanctions he
could face. Neither he nor Cusco officials could be reached for comment.

The Inca dynasty held sway over a swathe of Latin America from Colombia to Chile for more than three centuries until the Spanish conquest. Its
capital, Cusco, is near the mountaintop citadel Machu Picchu that is Peru's top tourist attraction.

arrrgh. stuff like this makes my head want to explode. what's of more value to society at large, an ancient artifact of a lost situation, or a
soulless chain hotel? hmm. let me think about that...jeez.

What a shame. I can't believe he tore it down,what was he thinking. I really hate when ancient places and artifacts are destroyed. And it is even
worse when its done on purpose. I hope they keep him from building his hotel. And fine him,heavily.

Frankly, I see no reason to worship old stuff unless it is exceptional. This is just a friggin' wall, for Christ sake! It's not a pyramid. It's not
a work of art. It doesn't even have much archaeological significance. It's an old wall with plenty more where that came from. It's not Machu
Picchu.

I'll tell you what is sacrilege: Ripping off the facing stones of the Great Pyramid to use to build Cairo. And now there's a Muslim movement to take
down the Pyramids altogether because they were built by heretics who did not believe in Allah and worshiped multiple deities. The Taliban destroyed
ancient Buddhist statues because of the same thing. Now THAT'S criminal.

Frankly, I see no reason to worship old stuff unless it is exceptional.

it's not about worship - it's about preserving who we were and what we came from

preserving our past shows a certain amount of affection for humanity - among other things

I'll tell you what is sacrilege: Ripping off the facing stones of the Great Pyramid to use to build Cairo. And now there's a Muslim movement to
take down the Pyramids altogether because they were built by heretics who did not believe in Allah and worshiped multiple deities. The Taliban
destroyed ancient Buddhist statues because of the same thing. Now THAT'S criminal.

it's the same thing - just this wall doesn't mean anything to you - it's not grand enough

when the Buddhist statues came down I felt sick. I was devastated - I'd always wanted to see them - but just knowing they were there was enough in
some ways

I agree it was a crime - just as it would be if they lay their hands on the pyramids

But this thread isn't about Islamic extremists so much as it is about tossing our human history into the dust bin - and there are plenty of people
guilty of that

Bargain-hungry Mexican shoppers have flocked to a new Wal-Mart supermarket that environmentalists claim will threaten one of the nation's
treasures.

I was speechless when I heard about this - which was well before it was actually built. There were plenty of protests - but it still happened. Like
there isn't enough space in Mexico to build a Wal-Mart someplace else...

I don't even know who to blame for this - Mexico? Wal-Mart?

from the same source:

It is located in a buffer zone that is part of the archaeological site, but where hundreds of other, mainly smaller businesses have sprouted in
the past decade or more.

Mexico's national anthropology institute that oversees the ruins - located outside Mexico City - has said that the store poses no threat.

The United Nations and the Paris-based International Council on Monuments and Sites also "signed-off" the store.

Well - I guess if Mexico is OK with it - who am I to second guess them? I mean - it's not like Mexico doesn't always have the best interests of it's
people in mind. I won't even start with Wal-Mart

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